Grilled Chicken and Zucchini Yakitori

Well, so much for my plan of keeping my blog updated over the summer.  Boy #1 started second grade last Monday, and Boy #2 starts his last year of preschool this afternoon.  I don't know how they got to be this old.  One of my friends posted a picture on Facebook of Boy #1 and one of his BFFs on the first day of school.  They've been friends since they were one, and seeing them so big and starting second grade had me in tears.  Anyway, now that school is back in the swing, and I have four afternoons a week to myself, I'm hoping to get back on the blog wagon.  The past few weeks I haven't made a whole lot of new stuff.  It's hard to find the time to come  up with meal plans that include a bunch of new recipes when I have both kids at home.

This recipe has been one of our new favorites over the summer.  The first time I made it I was watching my friend Amanda's daughters, and I wasn't sure how the kids would receive it.  I mean, it's grilled chicken, so I figured it would be okay.  Turns out I had nothing to worry about.  This is from SkinnyTaste.com, which is one of my favorite healthy cooking blogs.  I don't think I've ever been disappointed with a recipe I've used from her website.  I love grilling in the summer, especially if we're hanging out in our pool, but I get tired of always grilling the same stuff, so finding a new grilled chicken recipe is pretty fantastic in my book.

Grilled Chicken and Zucchini Yakitori
Source: Adapted from http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/06/grilled-chicken-and-zucchini-yakitori.html">SkinnyTaste.com

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce (for GF use low sodium Tamari)
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, all fat trimmed
2 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/2-inch thick rings
18 (10 inch) bamboo skewers

Bring vinegar, low sodium soy sauce, honey and crushed garlic to a boil in a medium-sized sauce pan, and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Cut the chicken into 1-inch pieces and place in a ziplock bag; pour half of the marinade over the chicken. Place the zucchini in a second large ziplock bag and pour the remaining marinade over the zucchini. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, soak the skewers in water 30 minutes so they don't burn.

Thread the chicken onto skewers, discarding the chicken marinade.

Thread the zucchini onto skewers, reserving the marinade for basting.

Preheat the grill or a grill pan over medium-high heat. When hot, spray with oil then reduced heat to medium; grill the zucchini and chicken skewers about 5 to 6 minutes on each side brushing both sides of the skewers with the yakitori sauce during the last few minutes of cooking time.

*****

I said above that when I made this for my family and my friend's daughters I didn't have to worry about them not liking it.  The kids all had seconds of the chicken.  There were no leftovers from this, which was kind of disappointing because I had hoped to have some for the husband and me for lunch the next day.  The kids didn't eat the zucchini, but the husband and I loved it.  This thick-zucchini-slices-on-bamboo-skewers was actually my go-to way to grill zucchini over the summer when we'd have it as a side dish.  So easy!  If I wasn't making this recipe I'd brush the slices with some olive oil and sprinkle with some Lawry's or Tony Chachere's and throw them on the grill with whatever protein I was cooking.

This is super easy to put together (as long as you plan ahead for marinating time), and so good.  The original recipe called for sake instead of the rice wine vinegar, but since I didn't have sake on hand I substituted the vinegar.  It also called for green onions to be on the skewers between chicken pieces and zucchini pieces, but I haven't ever done that, so I took it out of the ingredient list.

I have already made this so many times this summer, but it's so easy and my family loves it, so it's definitely going to stay one of my go-to chicken thigh recipes!